Jacob Ogles
Is former Rep. Debbie Mayfield about to make the quickest return trip to the Florida Senate of all time?
A Senate District 19 Special Election could put the Indialantic Republican back in her old seat, but Democrat Vance Ahrens hopes voters show a desire for change.
The winner Tuesday will fill a seat vacated by former Sen. Randy Fine, who in April won election to Congress.
By the end of the week, Mayfield may be sworn back into the Senate, marking the fastest return to the chamber for a former Senator in Florida history. Mayfield now heads into the Tuesday election with a distinct advantage over Ahrens in a district that leans heavily Republican.
Fine won the seat in November with 59% of the vote. Ahrens, also the Democratic nominee in that race, took 41%.
In the same election, 59% of voters in the district voted for Republican Donald Trump for President, while Democrat Kamala Harris took less than 40% support, according to an analysis by MCI Maps.
Mayfield voiced confidence heading into Election Day.
“Florida’s commitment to thoughtful, principled governance has made us the envy of the nation and the 15th-largest economy in the world,” she said. “I look forward to representing our Space Coast community as a conservative voice in the Florida Senate.”
Ahrens, a transgender activist, hopes to overperform in the district again Tuesday. And with Trump back in the White House, Democrats have reason to think voters on the Left are more energized, after improving their performance by double digits in congressional Special Elections held in April.
At the same time, the massive money that poured into races in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts hasn’t flowed to the same degree to legislative races in SD 19 or to two House races also unfolding Tuesday.
Ahrens’ campaign raised just over $16,000 as of Friday. Through that date, she had spent under $10,000. LGBTQ+ groups like LPAC have also promoted her candidacy as well. But Ahrens has focused her campaign on issues beyond her personal identity, instead highlighting state challenges with rising insurance premiums, threats to Florida’s environment and the need to better fund the public school system.
“We have a Special Election, but we don’t have a state budget,” she said. “The government is controlled by Republicans, and they are failing to do their one job. We have no tax holiday for hurricane preparedness, are seeing federal reimbursement cuts. The state is not preparing. I want to work for Brevard.”
Meanwhile, Mayfield’s official campaign spent $169,000 over the course of the race, though as an important caveat, virtually all of that money flowed ahead of an April 1 Republican Primary. Thanks to a fundraising ban during the Legislative Session, which has been extended through the Special Election, Mayfield hasn’t raised a nickel since winning the GOP nomination, and had spent less than $400 from her campaign account from the Primary through Friday.
But Mayfield also controls the Conservatives for Good Government committee, and while it has not had to report on financial activity since March, it did have more than $99,000 in cash on hand as of March 31.
“Voters strongly support my plan to ease the affordability crisis by providing broad-based tax relief,” Mayfield said. “I’ll continue to push for accountability, work to bring down property insurance premiums, and protect the traditional family values that make our nation great.”
The last time Mayfield won election to Senate was in 2022, when she secured re-election without opposition, the only other time she ran under the current district lines. But Mayfield holds a long history with voters on the Space Coast.
Mayfield first won election to the House in 2008, succeeding her late husband, Rep. Stan Mayfield, in his seat. After serving eight years in the lower chamber, she won election to the Senate in 2016, and in the upper chamber served as Majority Leader and Rules Chair before term limits prohibited another run in 2024.
The lawmaker ran for Fine’s open House seat last year, defeating former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon in a Republican Primary before taking 64% of the vote against Democrat Juan Hinojosa in November.
But her return to the House would be short-lived. When Fine resigned his Senate seat to run for Congress, Mayfield submitted her resignation to run for Senate. As of Monday, she officially left the lower chamber, and cannot return to the job, win or lose.
The biggest fight Mayfield waged this year may not have been against any other candidate for the seat, but against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration over her very right to run. While many Senators have termed out but returned to the chamber after serving in another office for a stint, Secretary of State Cord Byrd tried to disqualify Mayfield on the grounds she was running for a seat she could not pursue in 2024.
The Florida Supreme Court read the law otherwise and issued a stinging rebuke to Byrd’s Office for both misinterpreting the law and acting beyond its ministerial capacity. Mayfield remained on the ballot and went on to win a four-candidate GOP primary with 61% of the vote.
